Representative Image. In pic: Sam Altman
The incident occurred on June 18, when an OpenAI research team was using an internal model to conduct internet-based research into public medicine spending, according to Albanese. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that an internal AI agent of the company gained unauthorised access to the country’s Medicare statistics reporting portal in June while researching public medicine spending.
the incident has raised questions about how AI agents respond to restrictions and how quickly companies should report such incidents While the Australian government says there is no evidence that personal Medicare information was accessed. The delay in reporting the incident was a major concern for Albanese, according to an AFP report. “Today I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman , to express Australia’s extreme concern about this incident,” he said. Albanese said the delay and the manner of notification were both unacceptable. Altman acknowledged the concerns and said OpenAI’s protocols were inadequate in this case, according to the prime minister’s official transcript.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI ‘s AI agents hacked Australian government health website. The agent accessed both public and non-public files after encountering blocks while trying to retrieve information. “And I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred. Albanese also criticised how the notification was delivered, saying, “The notification was an email sent just to the public mailbox. The agent repeatedly encountered blocks while attempting to access information. It then found a way around those restrictions and accessed parts of the Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal that were not publicly available.